Improvement in cotton-choppers



W. PRIDE;

Cotton Choppers.

Patented April 8, 1873.

AM PHOTO-LITHOGRAPH/C c0. Mfloseums PRocEsj UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WHITMAN PRICE, OF MOUNT OLIVE, NORTH CAROLINA.

' IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-CHOPPERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,715, dated April 8,1873; application filed October 28, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WHITMAN PRICE, of Mount Olive, in the county ofWayne and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cotton-Choppers; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying 7 drawing and to theletters of reference marked thereon which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3is an enlarged detailed view of one of the choppers and the flanges forholding them. .Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the gear-wheels whichoperate the choppers, showing the construction oftheir teeth, which,instead of being like ordinary teeth, straight upon the face, arecurved, thus allowing them to work when their shafts are not at rightangles to each other.

This invention relates to certain improvements upon a cotton-chopper forwhich Letters Patent of the United States were granted me June 6, 1854;and it consists in the improved method of constructing and arranging thevarious parts of the machine, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained.

The framing of the machine consists principally of two side pieces, a a,which are secured at their front ends to a cross-piece, c, and areconnected near their rear by another cross-piece, b. To the upper sideof this frame are secured two handles, (1, connected by ties 61'. Theyare further supported by upright pieces f, which are attached at theirlower ends to the girts a a. These girts are supported at their ends bythe crosspieces b and c, and are employed for the purpose of carryingthe bearings of the shaftl. This shaftl is placed at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the machine, and in such a position that the wholedevice when complete shall be nearly balanced thereon. The rods 1" r areformed with a bearing at one end which encircles the outer ends of theshaft 1. They then pass through the cross-piece c and are attached tothe draft-bar s, which is perforated with a series of holes to enablethe pole'or tongue t to be placed at any desired point, and securelyfastened at that point by a bolt passing through both. This arrangementof the rods and draft-bar enables the operator to throw the machine toeither side of a central line, as may be required by the work to beperformed. An ordinary shovel-plow, v, of lightconstruction, is attachedto one end of the arms 19, and in the rear of the plow, secured to thearms 10 by the same bolts which hold the plow, are two metalcarrying-springs or shoes, to, which serve to steady its movements andprevent a tendency to enter the earth too deeply. A curved and serratedbar passes through the arms 19 in the rear of the plow, and, going upthrough a suitable mortise in the cross-piece c, is secured at at anydesired height by the key g.

It will be perceived that this bar 02, although preventing the plow frompenetrating too deeply, offers no resistance to its rising in case ofmeeting with an obstruction; neither does any other part of themechanism, as the arms p are journaled at their upper ends to theshaft 1. This provision is found to be of great value in working in newor rough lands.

The carrying-wheelg issecured upon the shaft 1, as is also thebevel-gear wheel h. I sometimes make the central portion or hub of thesewheels of wood, in order to secure lightness, the wooden hub being madeso as to fill a cavity formed between the two, and in which it issecurely held by bolting them together. Gearing into the wheel h is thebevelpinion is upon one end of the shaft 1. This shaft, at the endcarrying the pinion, is journaled in a movable bearing secured to theblock 0 by a single bolt. A screw working in a nut attached to thebearing, and having its opposite end journaled in the girt 0/, enablesthe operator to throw the pinion 70 into or out of gear with the wheelh. The shaft Z, in passing through the cross-piece b, rests in a movablejournalbox, m, which is secured in any desired position by twoscrew-bolts passing through the two pieces of which the cross-piece b isformed. The journal-box and shaft being properly placed, the nuts uponthe bolts are screwed up and the box thus held firmly in place. At theouter end of shaft 1 is secured a flange, 2, having recesses in its facefor the reception of the enlarged ends of the hoe-carrying arms 0. Asimilar flange, but moving easily on the shaft 1, is provided, which,after the arms 0 have been inserted, is securely held in contact withthem and the other flange by screw-bolts passing through suitable holesin both flan ges. The hoes may thus be quickly changed by simplyloosening the bolts which connect the flan ges, and others inserted.

This method of construction also enables the operator of the machine toemploy any number of hoes that he may deem necessary, as the flanges areconstructed with four, eight, six, or twelve recesses, and each recessmay be filled by the arm of a hoe, or any desired number may be insertedand the other spaces left vacant without in any way disarranging theoperation of the machine.

' It will be seen that this method of constructing and arranging thechopping-hoes and their operative mechanism allows them, together withthe shaft upon which they hang, to be turned to the right or left sideof the machine, or remain at right-angles to the driving-shaft Z, as thework in hand may require, and in order to admit of this movement theteeth of the wheels 76 and h, instead of having a straight face, arerounded in such a manner as to render these actions free when theirshafts depart from a right angle.

The machine constructed as herein described will be found to possessmanyadvantages, among which may be enumerated the nearly perfect balancingof the machine upon the cility furnished for increasing or diminishingthe number of chopping-hoes, or exchanging those which may be broken forothers; also, in many minor points of construction, which enable me topresent to the public a tool unsurpassed for the purposes for which itis de-' signed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. In combination with shaft 1 the flanges z andchopping-hoes e, the flanges being provided with recesses for thereception of the enlarged end of the stems or arms of the hoes, in themanner shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The shovel plow o, spring-shoes w, and arms 12, in combination withthe serrated bar 00 and key y, substantially as and for the pur* posespecified.

3. The shaft 1 and rods 1' r, in combination with the perforateddraw-bar s and tongue t, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

WHITMAN PRICE.

\Vitnesses:

WM. R. SING-LETON, M. K. CHANDLER.

